NFL quarterback lands Max Verstappen contract extension

Cincinnati Bengals NFL quarterback Joe Burrow and Red Bull Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen are the highest earners in their respective sport, and with the same salary.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow became the fifth different player to be the “highest paid player in NFL history” at some point during the NFL offseason after agreeing to a record five-year, $275 million contract extension with the team on Thursday.

The deal is the fourth such record extension since last season ended. As a result, both the highest NFL earner and the highest Formula 1 earner are now making the same salary on what is effectively the same contract.

Two-time reigning world champion and current world championship leader Max Verstappen agreed to a contract extension with Red Bull ahead of the 2022 season. The Dutchman had already been under contract through 2023 after agreeing to a new deal ahead of the 2020 campaign.

Max Verstappen’s new five-year deal is set to go into effect at the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season and run through 2028.

It is said to be valued at $55 million per year for a total of $275 million. The deal places him at the top end of the Formula 1 salary chart, even ahead of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

As for Burrow, he is set to enter the fourth and final season of a four-year rookie deal worth $36 million, so he is now tied him to the two-time reigning AFC North champions through 2028 as well.

Of course, these money figures do not factor in bonuses and endorsements, and on the Formula 1 side, the numbers the public receive aren’t always the numbers that are really being thrown around behind closed doors, even excluding the foreign currency conversion factor.

Still, it puts into perspective just how much these star athletes are making when compared to stars in other sports, as the highest earners in the NFL and Formula 1 are now level.

Burrow and the Bengals are looking to get back to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years after bowing out to the eventual champion Kansas City Chiefs in last year’s AFC Championship Game, while Verstappen is currently riding a 10-race winning streak and appears to be well on his way to a third consecutive world title with 12 wins in 14 starts this season.